Kansas man accused of abandoning son in Ottawa County

MIAMI, Okla. (AP) _ A Kansas man is accused of abandoning his 7-year-old autistic son in northeastern Oklahoma. <br/><br/>Jay Smith of Kansas City faces a felony charge of deserting a child under 10. <br/><br/>An

Wednesday, August 4th 2004, 9:27 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI, Okla. (AP) _ A Kansas man is accused of abandoning his 7-year-old autistic son in northeastern Oklahoma.

Jay Smith of Kansas City faces a felony charge of deserting a child under 10.

An Ottawa County woman found the 7-year-old boy standing on a bluff outside her home. Virgie Turner says she lured the boy away from the bluff by promising him a soft drink.

Turner says the boy told her his father was mad and had left him alone.

Smith was found trying to start a fire in underbrush about a mile-and-a-half from where the boy was found.

Ottawa County Undersheriff terry Durborow says Smith had weekend custody of the boy and had taken him camping and canoing on the Spring River.